Chelsea Clinton Leaves Gig at NBC News

In this image released by NBC, host Brian Williams interviews Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton, on “Rock Center with Brian Williams,” on Dec. 12, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/NBC, Peter Kramer)

Associated Press

Chelsea Clinton, daughter of the nation’s most famous power couple, has left her part-time post as a special correspondent for NBC News, citing her work at the family’s charitable foundation and the time she’ll soon be devoting to her new baby.

Ms. Clinton had spent three years with the network, steering clear of politics and focusing largely on feel-good stories about people working to improve conditions in various communities.

In a statement she released on her Facebook page, Ms. Clinton, 34 years old, said: “When I joined the NBC family in 2011, I had long respected NBC’s commitment to telling the stories of ‘ordinary people doing extraordinary things.’ ’’

She added: “To continue focusing on my work at the Clinton Foundation and as (her husband, Marc Mezvinsky) and I look forward to welcoming our first child, I have decided to leave my position as a NBC Special Correspondent.”

Ms. Clinton and her husband are expecting their first child in the fall.

Alex Wallace, senior vice president of NBC News, said in a statement: “We are thankful for all of Chelsea’s contributions to NBC News over the past three years. Chelsea’s storytelling inspired people across the country and showcased the real power we have as individuals to make a difference in our communities. While she will be missed, we look forward to working with her in the future.”

Should her mother, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, run for president in 2016, Ms. Clinton is expected to play an influential role in the campaign. People close to the Clintons anticipate she would be both a surrogate on the campaign trail and an adviser behind the scenes.

In recent years Ms. Clinton has played an increasingly prominent role in the family foundation, which has been renamed the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation. She is a high-profile participant in foundation conferences, paying special attention to global health, women and girls, and voluntary service.

Comments posted on her Facebook page included many good wishes.

“You have grown into the inspiration any parent would be proud of. What a gracious, intelligent and unaffected young lady you have become,” one person wrote.

Her stint at NBC News drew a fair amount of criticism. Politico reported that her annual salary was $600,000 before switching to a month-to-month arrangement this year. Given her lack of journalism experience, some in the news media questioned why she should be elevated to a high-paying network news spot at a time when seasoned journalists nationwide are struggling to find work in an uncertain economy.

Her job with the network also had an ironic twist, given her parents’ assiduous efforts to shield her from media scrutiny when they lived in the White House. Even after Ms. Clinton left the White House she retained a certain wariness of the news media, declining to engage some of the beat reporters covering her mother’s 2008 presidential campaign, for example.

Jane Hall, a professor at the American University School of Communication, said that Ms. Clinton’s pay was bound to “breed resentment.”

“At a time when the networks are asking so much of people on stories, and budgets are tight, and … international people are literally risking their lives, if you’re working at NBC News and had experience you were bound to be resentful.”

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.